I am Tetsuo
by colorrosa
Summary: Fanfic of the manga, tells what happens after Neo Tokyo is destroyed in the last book
1. Chapter 1

I am Tetsuo

Chapter 1

There was light. Tetsuo felt extremely and strangely calm as opposed to seconds before when he could only feel pain…and rage. His eyes failed him so he spoke softly. "What happened", he asked, "where am I?" He knew who was there; he could feel their presence, and he could not figure out why he felt no anger.

"We are in another dimension, Tetsuo," a voice resounded through his mind, "a dimension we all helped to create, even Akira could not do it himself."

"What are you talking about, and where's Akira?" Tetsuo thought or said there was no difference among these people.

"Akira has moved on, he had moved fully overcome the Stream and he can finally rest. Yet he lives within our minds," Kiyoko and Masaru said in unison. "How did all of this happen?" Tetsuo continued to inquire.

"Tetsuo, very soon after you attacked me you began releasing energy equal to Akira's first explosion hat leveled Tokyo in 1992. You see that energy was not enough to create a new Stream but Akira, Kiyoko, Masaru, and I helped concentrate it into this new creation," Miyako replied, knowing Tetsuo would not remember.

"But what happened to that other Stream?" Tetsuo was beginning to see what was around him, or, more accurately, what wasn't.

"Oh, it still flows as it did before; in fact this new Stream flows as a detour from it. The new Stream is still attached to the old one," Miyako explained further.

"So, I can return to that old one, right?" Tetsuo began to feel much safer, much more enraged, and much lonelier. He wanted vengeance.

"You could, if you were able to discard that anger and heal your wounds." Miyako felt his rage, and, far more intensely, his pain.

Tetsuo could see himself now. He was terribly wounded; there were deep gashes all over him and his right arm was gone again. He wondered how this could have happened. He immediately began blaming those around him. "What the hell did you do to me?!" Tetsuo's anger rose and his pain rose along with it. Why was he like this now?

"Tetsuo, the more you return to your anger the more difficult it will be to heal, and the longer you will have to stay here. You must let go of you anger if you hope to move on." Miyako said, compassionately, for she felt his anger.

"And how," Tetsuo demanded, "do I do that? I was always attacked first. Anyone who I hurt deserved what they got, especially you three."

"Tetsuo, forgiving someone is not an easy thing to do because nobody has ever deserved forgiveness, but forgiveness is the only way to heal the wounds and end the pain." Miyako was feeling her own anger and frustration toward Tetsuo returning.

"Like you can talk," Tetsuo retorted, sensing her anger as well.

"I did not say that I had let go of my own anger, Tetsuo. I am merely attempting to help you." Miyako began to feel more frustrated at Tetsuo's attitude.

"You're the one who made me lose control by lying to me about what would happen when I stopped taking the pills!" Tetsuo was on the verge of yelling now. Where was all of this pain coming from?

"Tetsuo, you had been taking extremely high doses of that drug before you came to me. You had done more than enough damage by that time. Your many explosive releases of power only made matters worse. These lessons you learned too late. But it really was not your fault. After all, how could someone in your situation hope to succeed...?"

Tetsuo calmed down a little bit. "What do you mean?"

"Tetsuo, do you have any memories of someone encouraging you?" Miyako asked slightly rhetorically.

Tetsuo was disinclined to answer. "You already know…"

"How could an unloved, alienated person ever achieve anything," Miyako began to feel some sorrow for Tetsuo.

"What the hell did you just say?!" Tetsuo seethed.

"I'm sorry. Tetsuo, please try to understand me, I knew what would happen to you and I chose not to tell you in part because I wanted freedom and also because I did not think it would matter...I sincerely apologize," Miyako said.

"Whatever..." Tetsuo calmed slightly.

Miyako continued. "Tetsuo, do you have a memory of anyone ever affirming your faith in yourself?"

"…No…" Tetsuo felt the bluntness of her question, but far more deeply he felt the pain of a life full of dejection and disinterest. He tried not to reveal his sadness, tried to inhibit the flow of his sorrow, in vain. "Damn it, I can't even control myself now…"

"Tetsuo you should not be so hard on yourself. The beginning of the process of your ultimate alienation was beyond your control, and you had little if any influence in most of the factor that contributed to it." Miyako spoke softly, trying to communicate her own empathy.

"I just…all I wanted…was to be the best" Tetsuo's heart overflowed with his grief and frustration.

"And so, Tetsuo, when they kept you from being equal to them, you used your power to crush them, to rule over them as Master Tetsuo, second in command of The Great Tokyo Empire." Miyako continued, smiling at the irony of that situation.

"But Kaneda was just worried that I would kill his girlfriend, heh heh, and that I was well on my way to intentionally destroying the world," Tetsuo began to smile, "and then Kaori… will I see her again?" His smile faded into mournful melancholy.

"Tetsuo, how many people have you killed, how much pain have you caused to innocent people…Are you ready to let her see you while you are still covered in the blood you've bathed in?" Miyako asked him, trying to get him to go further into his own mindset.

"I don't think I caused more pain than I felt…" Tetsuo added almost coldly. By this time he could clearly see his surroundings. There was just light all around him, everywhere.

"Tetsuo, we know your pain, we felt it when we came here, and you should ask yourself why you would want anyone else to feel the same as you did," Masaru and Kiyoko spoke in unison once again, but now their voices seemed to actually become one voice at times.

Their worlds hit Tetsuo hard. Then Tetsuo could see himself, every scar from every wound he had received ever since Takeshi destroyed his bike was visible. "Why am I still hurt, I thought I healed already?"

"Tetsuo, while your body healed, your mind retained everything; you never let anything go because you never knew how to. You kept feeling like you had to prove yourself to Kaneda and your other friends. In reality, you were always trying to prove that you were superior to Kaneda and everyone else because you always felt inferior." Miyako said.

"And I was willing to tear through anyone who challenged me. That was really why I awakened Akira, because I wanted to keep getting stronger, and he was the strongest." Tetsuo said, deeply absorbed in reflection.

"But that was not really a mistake, Tetsuo. Your real mistake, your first mistake was seeking power in order to prove yourself to other rather than to improve yourself for others."

"What the hell do you mean improve myself _for_ them?! No one ever gave a damn about me unless it got them something." Tetsuo's rage returned, rising and rapidly reaching around the realm. He was not quite ready to forgive anyone yet.

"You know that's not true, Tetsuo. Caring about you only got Kaori a painful death. And it got Kaneda's friends killed and everything he knew desolated."

"And I ended up being the one who got chewed up and spit out over and over until death finally consumed me. They had no idea how much pain I was in and only Kaori really cared." Tetsuo was calming slightly

"Tetsuo, can you really blame them? After all they had to try to rise from the same pile of trash that you did. Listen, Tetsuo, you can either harden your heart, staying in the same place, rejecting all growth and improvement, or you can give up your anger, and begin to grasp your full potential, not only as an esper, but as a man." Miyako was more forceful now, growing weary of Tetsuo's complaints.

Tetsuo would normally have exploded at this, but things were different. He knew why he had lost himself in his pursuit of higher power. It was not really because of what others did to him, but what he had done to himself. But to say he had lost himself would mean that he had know who he was, and that was not exactly true. "But I know who I will be…" Tetsuo thought out loud. He had to do something; go back to that ruinous city and change it. He had seen what he had become, and he hated it. "I'll never go back to that; I'll overcome, show the world how strong I really am." Tetsuo felt the pain fading away. 'I destroyed that city after I had been destroyed by it, now I'll go and rebuild it, for the sake of those who never got a second chance', he thought, resting his mind on Kaori. Tetsuo felt the pain further mitigated.

"Have you had an epiphany, Tetsuo?" Miyako asked rhetorically, for she already knew he had.

Tetsuo began to bend space in the shape of a doorway. He smiled as he was finally, totally free from the pain. Smiling he said "Yes, I am Tetsuo and I will build the Great Tokyo Empire", and disappeared through the portal.


	2. Chapter 2

There was Light

Chapter 2

Above a pile of rubble the sky began to contract and then suddenly spread out, exposing a bend in space, through which Tetsuo emerged. He drifted down, softly landing on the scraps beneath him. He looked to his left and saw in the distance a city being rebuilt.

"Sweet, my aim is pretty good," he said aloud. "Yeah, I'm gonna need some clothes" he observed, noticing the cold wind. And then he noticed some beside him.

'Just a gift from us Tetsuo,' Miyako was speaking to him through telepathy.

'You sent these here before I came here?' Tetsuo asked. 'How did you know I would choose to return,' he inquired almost playfully while putting on this "gift".

'I just had a hunch, honestly,' Miyako responded in the same manner.

'Well as long as you're on the line I have a few more questions,' Tetsuo became a bit more serious, 'How are you talking to me, why does Neo Tokyo look like this, and why does my body feel so…strong?'

'As to the first question, the two streams are still connected, and it is quite easy to talk across space, even twisted space. To the second, I'm sorry to tell you that Tokyo is like that because, while you were accurate in terms of space, you were as accurate in going to a specific time.' Miyako explained

'So how far off was I?'

Miyako smiled, 'About fifteen years.'

"What?! Fifteen years," Tetsuo was incredulous, "And you knew I would miss?!"

'Listen Tetsuo, we reasoned the current of the Flow would pull you that way no matter what,' Miyako tried to comfort him, 'but back to the third question. All that pain was not felt in vain. The pain you felt was your body reacting to the damage done to it, and now it has grown stronger than a normal human's.'

'So that pain was my body getting stronger?'

'Actually, it was only painful because you sought your power in an improper manner; you twisted the cycle of your growth in an unhealthy way," Miyako explained.

"I see…thanks for the explanation, but clearly time is of the essence," Tetsuo began to speak again.

'Good luck, Tetsuo,' Miyako said as a salutation. Her voice seemed to fade out of his mind.

Tetsuo calmed his mind and began scanning the areas around him, trying to find Kaneda. He stopped, however, when he came across something reminiscent of an esper…no three espers, but they still weren't exactly espers. This was too interesting to ignore.

"Here I go." As Tetsuo's body began to fade out of his surroundings, quickly becoming lighter and less tangible until he was gone, he curled up his body slightly. In an instant he felt himself pulled across a great stretch of space. He stretched his body out and took a few steps forward as he found himself in the darkness of an abandoned building, which was in shambles, even leaning over a bit. 'That wasn't so bad,' thought Tetsuo, reflecting on Takashi's style of teleportation.

Tetsuo looked out through the doorway at the esper-like people he had located. One was lying down and drawing in chalk on the broken concrete. The two others were playing on the metal and concrete scraps around them.

Tetsuo examined them more closely. There were two boys and one girl. The girl and one of the boys were playing the ones playing in the rubble. They were the same age, and possibly twins. The younger boy was drawing. He was giving off strange vibes, as if he were an esper. They all were, but his were unique from the other two. Tetsuo left the building and walked toward them.

He walked silently, but the drawing by looked up at him. Once he saw him he immediately got up and went to the boy older boy and the girl.

"From the distance a stranger approaches," he said.

"Why do you always talk like that?" The older boy asked, without expecting a response. "Hey, Who are you?!" he shouted to Tetsuo.

As he shouted Tetsuo got the feeling that it was Kaneda shouting to him. He himself so that he stood close to them, but left a comfortable distance between himself and them.

The children all took a step back as he did this. "Who are you?!" The boy yelled even louder than before.

"Kaneda?" Tetsuo asked, seriously doubting an affirmative answer.

"How do you know our dad," the girl asked. "Are you Tetsuo," the younger boy asked. All the children were now thinking about asking this, but had decided it was impossible.

"Yes, I am." Tetsuo's mind was digesting the idea of Kaneda having kids…it was a little funny to him.

"Our dad said you were dead…and you're not. Why is that?" The younger boy continued while his siblings were thinking they were talking to a ghost.

"Yeah, I wouldn't have expected anyone to survive what happened to me. There is a lot to explain before you can understand why I'm here right now. But what about you; what are your names?"

They all hesitated. "What the heck, I'm Yoko." the girl said happily.

"Yoko, dad told us not to give out our names to anyone," the older boy said, still suspicious of Tetsuo.

"My name is Senta," the younger boy said. "Come on Ataro, he's dad's friend."

"Now you just told him my name, and we don't know if he really is Tetsuo! Dad said that Tetsuo was dead for years, but here is in front of us. And even If he really is Tetsuo, how do we know he's not dangerous?! You know what dad said about how Tetsuo was when he was alive." Ataro clearly did not trust Tetsuo.

"Who else could he be? Who else could teleport like he just did," said Yoko.

"And does he really seem dangerous? I don't get the feeling that he's dangerous," added Senta.

"But we still can't be sure of who this guy is," Ataro said, remaining adamant.

"We could take him to dad…" Yoko said, not expecting Ataro to allow it. "Yeah, that way, we could probably get a lot of answers." Senta added, trying to convince Ataro. Tetsuo would have suggested this much earlier, but instead chose to and observe the personalities of these children. He simply stood and listened closely.

"Alright, but I won't take my eyes off this guy," Ataro said, contemplating the fastest way to grab the knife in his pocket in case this guy tried to attack anyone. So, as Yoko and Senta led the way back to the city through the ruins, Tetsuo walked behind them, and Ataro walked behind Tetsuo.

Tetsuo felt Ataro's fear, so he carefully kept his distance from everyone in the group in order to keep from raising suspicions. Tetsuo kept from reading their minds so as to not weird them out, or cause a reaction before he had spoken with Kaneda.

As they walked, Tetsuo began to notice that the terrain was kind of strange; they were on a ridge and the taller buildings of the city could be seen only if one was to look past the mountainous junkyard in which they stood. As they approached the ridge Senta went toward a junk pile on their left and Yoko turned to a pile to her immediate left. Ataro was already clearing debris off of what looked like a motorcycle.

"Kaneda lets you ride that thing at your age?" Tetsuo only asked because riding was so dangerous.

"Yeah, but he said he would teach us to ride when we were 16 or when we built our own bike," Ataro said in response, trying to brag in order to hide his discomfort.

"Hey Joker did help us, Ataro," Yoko said.

"Hey guys, how is Tetsuo gonna get back to the city?" asked Senta nonchalantly, expecting to be nominated to take Tetsuo on his bike.

"He'll ride with me," responded Ataro.

Yoko began gunning the engine of her bike. She really wanted to get to her dad so she could figure this whole thing out. Ataro and Tetsuo got on Ataro's bike and headed out. Yoko and Senta followed.

It was rather awkward for both Ataro and Tetsuo, so neither of them spoke during the entire trip. Instead, during the trip, Tetsuo mapped out Neo Tokyo in his mind. He realized that the center of the city was the crater that he and Akira had created. As they sped through the city, he noticed that there were more and more construction workers as they continued toward the center of the city. Tetsuo saw the people trying to make use of the scraps around them; he saw new technology being used in houses. Deep in his heart he felt committed to helping them rebuild their city.

"Hey, Tetsuo," Yoko said rather casually, "don't you want to visit your family?"

"I don't have a family," Tetsuo answered calmly; "I lost my parents before I could remember anything about them."

"Oh, sorry," Yoko said.

"Its fine," Tetsuo responded.

"We approach the place of destiny," Senta said, speaking in his weird way.

They approached the tallest building in the city. It was quite fancy. In front of it was a memorial that looked like wreckage; it was the bottom half of a pillar, tilting to one side, it had a red "A" painted on it and the steel skeleton had been bent and was visible.

They got off their bikes and entered the building. It was a library.

"This is a library…" Tetsuo was a little surprised, "Kaneda sure has changed."

"It's also a school, but the meeting room is on the central floor," Yoko explained.

They spoke quietly as they walked toward an elevator. They got in.

"How many floors are there?" Tetsuo asked.

"301." Ataro answered as Senta entered the floor number.

"The middle floor is the 151st­; that's our destination." Yoko stated.

The elevator shot upward carrying them to floor 151 in about 12 seconds. Tetsuo was glad to see that the people of Neo Tokyo had access to the more advanced technology; it gave him hope.

The elevator doors opened, Tetsuo stood looking Kaneda directly in the eyes.

"Tetsuo…," Kaneda was amazed and terrified; he was veritably awestruck as he once again gazed upon hat face and spoke that name.

"Hello, Kaneda. It's been a while."

­­­­­­


End file.
